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The deterioration of heartwood from live and dead Alaska yellow-cedar trees was evaluated by exposing ministakes in soils at field sites in Alaska and Mississippi for 2 and 4 year intervals. Southern yellow pine sapwood served as a control. The vastly greater deterioration, as measured by weight loss, in Mississippi compared to Alaska (60 and 10 percent after 4 years,...

Stress-wave nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques are used widely in the forest products industryâfrom the grading of wood veneer to inspection of timber structures. Inspection professionals frequently use stress-wave NDE techniques to locate internal voids and decayed or deteriorated areas in large timbers. Although these techniques have proven useful, little...

This report details the results of laboratory analyses of wooden pilings sent to the USDA Forest Products Laboratory in March 2011. These samples were removed from coastal wooden posts, poles, piles, and deck boards. A total of 22 samples, consisting of either core borings or surface fiber samples, were removed from four installations along the South Carolina coast....

We examined slash from thinning treatments in a 21-year chronosequence of young-growth stands in southeast Alaska to determine the strength and persistence of slash effects on two key features of deer habitat quality: forage availability and deer mobility within thinned areas. We describe the main deterioration processes and their dynamics over time. We measured wood...

The use of a variety of stress wave transmission techniques for the in-service condition assessment of deteriorated wood is well documented. This paper summarizes results from an extensive study designed to examine the relationship between ultrasound transmission times and the deterioration of exposed wood. Two hundred seventy (270) southern pine lumber specimens were...

The primary objectives of the study were to characterize the critical properties of wood flour produced using highly deteriorated beetle-killed spruce for wood-plastic composite (WPC) production and evaluate important mechanical and physical properties of WPC extruded using an industry standard formulation. Chemical composition analysis indicated no significant...

In 1952 and 1953 cooperative research was conducted by the Pacific Northwest Forest Experiment Station and the Research Department of Weyerhaeuser Timber Company to obtain information concerning the rate of deterioration of beetle-killed Douglas-fir. The study was prompted by an outbreak of the Douglas-fir beetle that developed in 1951 and has since killed an estimated...

Wood as a material has unique properties that make it ideal for above ground exposure in a wide range of structural and non-strucutral applications. However, no material is without limitations. Wood is a bio-polymer which is subject to degradative processes, both abiotic and biotic. This chapter is a general summary of the abiotic and biotic factors that impact service...

Several mulc hes of natural, synthetic, or blends of natural and synthetic fibers were tested around newly planted loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) seedlings on a sheared and windrowed site in central Louisiana, U.S.A. The vegetation was primarily winter annuals, some residual grasses and forbs, and...

The research presented in this report was conducted to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of a commercially available micro-drilling resistance device, the IML RESI F300-S (Instrument Mechanic Labor, Inc., Kennesaw, Georgia), in locating deteriorated areas in timber bridge members. The device records drilling resistance as a function of drilling depth, which allows...

There is a real need for improving the physical condition of many recreation sires in the Southeast which are characterized by compacted and eroding soils, dead and dying vegetation, and generally poor appearance. An attempt was made on these sites to establish grass by giving the best possible treatment for growth and survival. After one summer of use, the planted...

The Forest Products Laboratory, USDA Forest Service, has been developing nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques to identify degradation of wood in structures and the performance characteristics that remain in the structure. This work has focused on using dynamic testing techniques, particularly stress wave and ultrasonic transmission NDE techniques for both...

The principal tree degrade was caused by blue stain fungi introduced by bark beetles and flatheaded borers. Roundheaded borers caused the most serious wood boring. Smaller trees suffered more degrade than larger, and degrade was more severe below 5,000 feet elevation. Degrade due to insects was not as heavy as expected, probably because of cool summer weather and low...

Wood is used extensively for both interior and exterior applications in the construction of a variety of structures (residential, agricultural, commercial, government, religious). The deterioration of an in-service wood member may result from a variety of causes during the life of a structure. It is important, therefore, to periodically assess the condition of wood...

Deterioration is broadly defined as any negative effect on the properties of a material. The effects can be due to biological attack or to various non-living agents (sunlight, moisture, temperature), but often, deterioration results from a combination of factors. Nowhere is this more evident than with WPCs, owing to the marriage of dissimilar materials. This article...

Many winter deer ranges throughout the West have been steadily deteriorating as a result of overgrazing, fire, and insect depredations. Lack of winter forage has caused heavy mortality of deer. The problem has become so acute that some of the western states have started research to determine what can be done to rehabilitate these ranges, if and when the causes of...

The average width of a trail was used to predict trail use in an urban forest recreation area. Results show that width indicates use only very generally at best. Consequently, simply inspecting the physical condition of a trail may lead to erroneous conclusions about its use. Managers requiring more than a simple light use/heavy use classification should adopt more...

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of time since death over a 4-year period on the amount of usable product volume and value, and to determine the species of fungi associated with wood deterioration in the stems of Douglas-fir and grand fir trees killed by bark beetles in northeastern Oregon. Sap rot, caused principally by Cryptoporus...

Deterioration of fire-killed timber in the coastal mountains of southern Oregon and northern California was monitored over a 3 yr period (1988-1990). Defect was identified and measured on felled and bucked sample trees by using Scribner and cubic scaling rules. Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), grand fir (Abies grandis),...